


Cockroach Waltz

by ghaskan



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, Friendship, No Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 06:19:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9422243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghaskan/pseuds/ghaskan
Summary: In an unexpected turn of events, music and bugs do mingle together.





	

No matter how widely spread they might be during the rest of the day, the students from the Gifted Inmates Academy always sat down together for breakfast. As luck would have it, that day Akamatsu Kaede was sitting next to Gokuhara Gonta, and the two had what attention they could spare from the food engrossed by conversation.

“So, Gonta-kun, is there any musical genre you like?” Akamatsu asked.

“Hmm...” Gokuhara rubbed his chin for a few moments as he searched for an answer. “Well, Gonta loves to listen to the melodies insects sing. They are very talented!” He beamed, satisfied as he was by his answer.

Akamatsu forced herself to smile back at him. That wasn’t the reply she was anticipating per se, but Gonta-kun was Gonta-kun, and one could hardly expect a wild child to be familiar with the newest pop hits, let alone the classics. Nonetheless, Gonta-kun’s answer was not without its merits.

“Actually, many composers write piano pieces about insects. For example, I can play one by Chopin that tries to convey the image of a butterfly’s flight.”

Gokuhara gasped in awe. “That’s amazing, Akamatsu-san! Gonta can tell butterflies apart by the sound they make when they flap their wings, so perhaps there is music about the flight of each species.”

“That may be so, Gonta-kun! I mean, even a piano freak like me can’t hope to know about all the butterfly melodies there are in the world.”

“Say, Akamatsu-san,” Gokuhara began, leaning in closer, his eyes sparkling with excitement, “Did any of those pianists make music about cockroaches? Gonta is confident that may be the case, since cockroaches are wonderful insects.”

“Err, about that...” Gonta-kun’s enthusiasm made Akamatsu shrink back a little. There was no way people would have composed a piece about cockroaches, one of humanity’s biggest foes, at least as far as hygiene was concerned. Akamatsu contemplated telling a lie, however she doubted her ability to fool Gonta-kun with a last-minute creation.

Resigned to her fate, Akamatsu was getting ready to deliver the bad news to Gokuhara when she remembered about the one song that could save the day. “La _Cucaracha_!” she blurted out.

Gokuhara blinked at her. “Uhm? What does that mean, Akamatsu-san? Are those foreign words?”

“Oh, yes! It’s Spanish. That title means ‘the cockroach’.”

Gokuhara’s face lit up as he grinned. “Ah! Then, as Gonta expected, someone amazing _did_ make music that celebrates the beauty of cockroaches!”

“Err… yes, I guess that’s the case. Hehe.” The song hadn’t been written with the piano in mind, but Akamatsu was confident that she could adapt it on the fly. “So, do you want me to play it for you?”

“Um, actually,” Gokuhara said with his index finger on his chin as he blushed ever-so-slightly, “could Akamatsu-san teach Gonta how to play it?”

“Of course!” Akamatsu pumped both her fists. “I’m not deserving of the title Super High School Level Pianist if I’m not able to teach a dear friend of mine how to play _La Cucaracha_!”

 

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later, Akamatsu and Gokuhara were sitting in the music room with their bellies filled and a piano in front of them.

“All right, Gonta-kun. I will now play the first few notes—pay attention!”

Crystalline notes flew from the piano as Akamatsu performed the beginning of _La Cucaracha_. Gokuhara watched her in awe.

“Now, it’s your turn, Gonta-kun,” Akamatsu said, and then she gave Gokuhara a small pat on the back, encouraging him to give it a shot.

Gokuhara tried… and failed as his meaty fingers pressed on two or three keys at a time. “Akamatsu-san, Gonta isn’t sure if he can do this,” Gokuhara sobbed over the clumsy sounds produced by his attempt.

“Yes you can, Gonta-kun!” Akamatsu rose from her seat, moved to stand behind Gokuhara, and used her hands to guide him as he learned the intricacies of the piece.

 

* * *

 

“I believe you are now ready to play _La Cucaracha_ all the way through by yourself,” Akamatsu said as she sat by Gokuhara’s side once again.

“I will do my best, Akamatsu-san!” He let his fingers fall on the keys, and so commenced the show.

The way Gokuhara played the piano was still clumsy at best, but Akamatsu could hear his love for insects pouring from every note, lending his music a kind of beauty technique alone could not produce.

Not even a minute into the piece, Akamatsu spotted something crawling up the piano. It was a cockroach, in the flesh! No, not a cockroach. There were two, three, ten…

Did Gonta-kun inherit the powers of the legendary Pied Piper of Hamelin?!

Akamatsu shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she watched the unusual group of spectators Gonta-kun’s performance had gathered. Thankfuly, none of the cockroaches seemed to be interested on her, opting to stay on the piano instead (and she could swear she had seen one poking out of Gonta-kun’s hair). Gokuhara was concentrating so hard on his task that he had not taken notice of what was going on around him.

Akamatsu hoped Toujou-san would not enter the room before they managed to get rid of the unwanted visitors. It was for the best, as far as the maid’s health was concerned.

In the end, however, there was no need to resort to any extreme measures. As soon as Gokuhara played the final note (but before he came back to Earth), the cockroaches dispersed at a speed Akamatsu never thought possible.

Gokuhara raised his head, transferring his attention from the keys to Akamatsu. “How was it?” Gokuhara asked nervously.

Akamatsu took a deep breath. She had never spectated a performance that came even close to what she had just witnessed. There was only one way for her to reply if she wished to avoid using any lies. “It was incredible, Gonta-kun. I was left speechless.”

Gokuhara beamed, irradiating happiness as if it were a ray of sunshine. “Thank you very much, Akamatsu-san!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!  
> This was written shortly after the Japanese release of DRV3, so it's very possible the characterization is off to a degree. Also, try as I might I couldn't come up with a way to localize Gonta's adorable "Mushi-san". Maybe next time...


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